The body of Julie Mott went missing from her casket at a San Antonio funeral home earlier this month and authorities are continuing to search for fresh clues in the case.
Mott, 25, had died from cystic fibrosis on Aug. 8 and her funeral was held on her birthday of Aug. 15,
according to the San Antonio Express-News. The woman's casket was placed in a hallway of the Mission Park Funeral Chapel North after services so it could be transferred for cremation the next day, said chapel owner Robert Tips.
Funeral home workers found the casket empty on Aug. 16 and alerted the San Antonio Police.
"In my 22 years in law enforcement this is the first time I have ever heard of this happening," said Sgt. Javier Salazar of the San Antonio police.
"It would be speculation to even assume that it was just one person. It could have been two or several. Until we get that crucial piece of evidence leading us to just the right person or people, we just won’t know," said Salazar.
Tips, who told
KSAT-TV he was a friend of the family, said he was stunned by the crime and will be changing security at his funeral home.
"I can't believe this is happening to such dear friends of mine and she's a dear friend of mine," said Tips. "This is a person that I know. This is a person that I know and I want her back."
Tips said he was offering a $20,000 reward for information in the case.
Tim Mott, Julie Mott's father, told
KOAI-TV he was confident his daughter's body would be returned with the help of the public.
"As you can imagine this is not an easy thing to talk about," said Mott. "We just want our daughter's remains returned so that we can have some closure to our grief."
Police are investigating the incident as an abuse of a corpse case, which is a Class A misdemeanor.